Two days after the announcement of elections in Punjab, Mr Sukhdarshan Singh Marar, who had won the last Assembly elections from Muktsar as an Independent candidate, today announced that he has resigned from his Vidhan Sabha seat
& also quit Congress to re-join the Parkash Singh
Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal.

Mr Sukhdarshan Singh Marar, MLA from Muktsar, who rejoined the SAD in Chandigarh on Sunday.
— A Tribune photograph

Estranged son to contest against Henry
Ludhiana, December 31
Industries Minister, senior Congress leader and MLA from Jalandhar North, Avtar Henry may face his estranged son, Gurjeet Singh this time. Mr Gurjeet is believed to be among the candidates shortlisted by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Jalandhar North Assembly segment.

Chandigarh, December 31
“We will soon have an important resource to study Punjabi through the Internet,” says the
kurta-pyjama
-clad professor from the University of California, Santa Barbara, who is on a trip to Punjab, once again to serve his mother tongue.
“I was invited to attend the inauguration of the World Punjabi
Centre, Punjabi University, Patiala,” says Prof Gurinder Singh
Mann, Founder-Director of the Center for Sikh and Punjab Studies
at the UCSB.

Bathinda, December 31
His story had moved Indians settled abroad help for Deewan Singh, a cart-puller in his 70s, first came from a US-based good Samaritan after almost 15 months of the news report carried in The Tribune. “I couldn’t have asked for more on the New Year eve.

Mr Ramneet Singh, an NRI, hands over Rs 20,000 in cash to cart-puller Deewan Singh at his house in Bathinda on Sunday.
— Tribune photo by Kulbir Beera

Poll announcement spurs political activity
Chandigarh December 31
The announcement of Punjab elections has spurred political activity in Chandigarh's periphery. With the Shiromani Akali
Dal, riding on the wave of anti-incumbency, releasing the first list of 62 candidates, the candidates and their supporters have started the mass contact programme in a bid to woo the electorate for the February 13 elections.

CBI probe raises questions
1994 case of missing personsChandigarh, December 31
Several questions are being raised against the CBI investigations into the case relating to the alleged disappearance of three persons from Ludhiana almost 13 years ago, in March 1994.

Amritsar, December 31
Even as horse-driven tongas and buggies have become a rare sight these days, Major Mohinder Singh Sarkaria (84), a war veteran is seen doing rounds of the holy-city in his cart in Army uniform along with his six-year-old grandson, Adeeshwar Singh (6), first standard student.

Major Mohinder Singh Sarkaria and his grandson Adeeshwar Singh ride a buggy in Amritsar on Sunday.
— A Tribune photograph

Shopkeepers pull down kiosks, seek probe
Amritsar, December 31
The locals have expressed their resentment against the illegal construction of temporary kiosks in the highly-congested IDH market near bus
stand. The spokesman of the market said though they had lodged complaint with the commissioner but the administration failed to take any action in this regard.

Ringing in the new year

Girls welcome the New Year in Amritsar on Sunday. — PTI

SGPC Flashback-2006Year of anniversaries
Amritsar, December 31
The year 2006 would go down into the history of the Sikhs as the ‘year of Sikh anniversaries’ when the leaders of various Akali factions tried to take ‘political mileage’ with an objective of winning the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Out of the four significant anniversaries two were marred by clashes.

Amarinder extends greetings
Chandigarh, December 31
The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, in his messages wished the people of state on the eve of Id-ul-Zuha and also a very happy New Year. In his message on Id-ul-Zuha, he extended greetings saying that this festival symbolizes love, sacrifice, goodwill, compassion and trust.

Court orders sale of 2 govt vehicles
Barnala, December 31
The court of Ms Ramesh Kumari, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), Barnala, has directed the custodians of two government vehicles (PB-13F-0969 and PB-13-5445) to produce these before the court auctioneer at Barnala so that warrant of sale can be issued as regards these vehicles.

Cotton ginners to continue strike
Bathinda, December 31
Cotton ginners have decided to continue with their strike. It would add to the resentment prevailing among farmers due to the non-purchase of cotton in the state’s markets for the past three days.

Farmers face shortage of urea
Gurdaspur, December 31
Farmers of the district have been facing acute shortage of urea fertiliser. Many farmers have been waiting for urea since one month.
Many of them told The Tribune they had deposited advance payments with the
agencies and dealers for buying urea since last month.